Wait, I Reincarnated as a WHAT?!
Chapter 5
-Percy-
"Hmmm." Percy hummed to himself as he sat on a stump that was acting as a makeshift chair, observing the remaining Dire Wolves and Goblins who were eagerly awaiting his words. After the battle the night before, he'd pretended to sleep as he kept an eye on the Dire Wolves and the Goblins, wanting to make sure none of them would try to kill the other. Thankfully, they'd all happily slept through the night and were now waiting for him to tell them what to do.
"Is something wrong, oh great one?" the wizened elder asked, leaning on his cane.
"Trying to figure out the best ideas going forward." Percy assured the man. He'd promised to help keep this place safe and while he didn't intend to break his word, he still wanted to help the two groups to be able to survive without him around if need be. The wolves were definitely stronger while the Goblins had the benefits of opposable thumbs and tools.
"Alright, I've decided." Percy nodded, knowing he had to be firm for now. The Wolves had a clear pack hierarchy and the Goblins sadly lacked much of a spine or personal motivation, something to work on in the future "Everyone is going to partner up."
"Partner?" most of the goblins looked confused.
"Up?" the Wolves appeared just as baffled.
"Exactly." Percy grinned, "You each have your own strengths and skills. Dire wolves," the canines sat up straighter "you lot are definitely more powerful physically than the goblins are." The little green men and women slumped sadly at that "But you Goblins are able to use tools and weapons. Where I come from, we like to say, 'two heads are better than one'."
"But…none of us have two heads sir!" one goblin protested, hand in the air.
"It means people working together can often accomplish more than someone working by themselves." Percy snorted in amusement, the naïve comment making him think of some of the younger campers he'd helped to look after, "If you all partner up, a Goblin rider and a Dire Wolf, then you'd become partners. You'd train together, grow together, and fight together. Watching each other's backs and being stronger than either of you could be on your own." He could see the crowd liking the idea the more he talked about it. The wolves eagerness seemed to be from the notion of growing stronger than they were now, while the goblins looked like they were happy about being useful in the partnership.
"With that handled," although he'd still be keeping an eye on them for a bit "we can move on. There's still food, shelter, and clothing to consider." The goblin village was falling apart and what some of them were wearing could barely be classified as clothes.
"Everyone is going to be divided into teams." Percy held up some fingers, counting down as he spoke "Two teams will leave the village, one focusing on hunting animals for meat and leather while also collecting wild fruits and berries. The other will be gathering timber, stone, and other building materials."
"And the other, Lord Perseus?" the goblin elder questioned, thankfully at least being willing to talk to Percy directly without being prompted.
"Will be staying here, to fortify the village and work on buildings." He looked around "Construction isn't exactly my specialty, but I did pick up a few things from…some old friends." He'd learned a few tricks during his time at Camp Jupiter before he went on that quest for the Eagle.
"Then we will begin work at once my Lord." The elder declared eagerly.
"Hold up." Percy held out a slime hand "There is one thing that needs to be done before everyone gets to work."
"And what's that?" the elder's son asked, looking confused.
"Everyone needs to be named." Percy declared, unphased by the shocked shouting from wolf and goblin alike.
"N-names?!" the elder actually dropped his staff in shock, the goblin's son hastily moving to support his father and grab the dropped piece of wood "Are you certain my lord?"
"I am." Percy nodded. He knew it was a different culture, but it felt wrong to him that 'monsters' were denied names like this. Humans apparently didn't have this issue from what he'd gathered, it was just those deemed 'monster' that were denied this basic right so often. He couldn't change the world, but he could still help where he could. At his declaration, all the goblins and wolves began cheering and celebrating, even the old village chief nearly jumping for joy. Quickly, everyone lined up to be named, the wolves allowing the goblins to go first and the goblins putting their elder and his surviving son as the first to be named.
"You said your son, the warrior who defended this village, was named Rigur, right?" Percy looked at the goblin who nodded, pain and pride mixed in his eyes.
"Y-yes, my lord." The old man nodded, "He was named Rigur."
"Then I want you two to honor his memory." Percy looked at them "I name you Rigurd, in respect to the son who you raised to be a fine man that defended his home." The elder gasped as golden light poured off of the short man, tears pouring from the elder's eyes "And you," Percy looked to the surviving son who was comforting his crying father "shall inherit your brother's name. I name thee Rigur, to carry on your brother's legacy. Honor him, and know his is no doubt proud of the man you'll grow to become." Now they were both crying, the other goblins showing their support for the family that had led and protected the village before Percy had arrived.
And so, the pattern continued, each goblin receiving a name as golden light poured out from them. He tried his best to be creative, but it was difficult to name so many people, especially ones he'd just met. So, he fell into a naming pattern using 'Gob' as a starting point for a lot of the names. Who knows, maybe one day every monster would have names and he'd have started a new culture for it.
"Sir," hearing the newly named Rigurd approaching, Percy looked over, surprised at how nervous the elder seemed "I don't wish to appear ungrateful for the names you've given us, and I know you're far more powerful than we are, but are you sure that naming us all in one sitting is wise?"
"Uh…I don't see why it wouldn't be?" Percy blinked in confusion before double checking the crowd, "Alright, that seems to be all the goblins named." The crowd cheered again at that statement "Meaning now it's the wolves' turn." He looked back at the waiting line of dire wolves. The one in front was noticeably larger than the others in the pack, with a distinct star shaped patch of fur on their forehead. Normally he'd be concerned about bitterness or hatred from them…but the rapidly wagging tails implied otherwise, at least for the moment.
"Alright, now what to name you?" Percy mused aloud as the first one stepped forward, an idea coming to mind as he thought "I granted the goblin leaders a name tied to their past, to honor their defenders and history. For you, I grant a new name to move forward into this new partnership. I name you Romulus." The wolf gasped as light burst from his fur "It's a name from my homeland, of a great hero who was raised by a wolf, and founded a mighty kingdom." Plus, the only other wolves he could think of from his home were Lupa, who was a woman, and Lykaon, who was a jackass. Not exactly fitting names for this wolf in particular.
Before he could try to think of a name for the next wolf, he felt his body losing cohesion. The human like form he'd been holding together started to melt, his extended arm falling to the ground with a wet splatter as he felt concussed.
"Wha-?" Percy slurred even as his vision turned black, able to faintly hear the wolves and goblins panicking "What's going-?"
"Percy, your magicule reserves have fallen below a minimum limit." Wise girl spoke up, sounding both surprised and slightly alarmed "You're entering sleep mode."
"You could have…mentioned that…earlier." He slurred out before his vision completely went black.
Then, seemingly just as suddenly as he'd blacked out, he found himself waking back up in his default slime state.
"What the?!" he gasped; 'jolting' as worked to figure out his surroundings. He was quickly able to notice both that he was in the elder's tent and that there was a goblin girl who's hair and face he recognized, but the fact that she was suddenly much taller and much more 'proportioned' certainly through him off.
"She has evolved into a Goblina." Wise girl commented even as the 'Goblina' he'd named Piper, after his friend amongst the seven, turned in excitement.
"Oh, Lord Perseus, you're awake!" Piper bounced excitedly "I'll go tell the chief!" she ran out before he could find words through his shock.
"Hey wise girl, why'd I pass out?" Percy questioned his skill once he found his voice, figuring he could at least do something useful while he waited for the elder, somewhat curious what the old man would look like now.
"Granting a name expends magicules." Wise Girl explained "The more powerful the base species being named is, and the purer the intent behind the naming, the more taxing granting the name can be. I thought you would have enough, but I would have to assume that it was your body crashing since you never actually rested since getting your own name and then doing all this."
"Guess we both learned something today." He sighed even as he took his humanoid form again, just in time as the tent flap was tossed open and an utterly gargantuan muscle-bound green man entered. After a moment he recognized enough features to tell who it was.
"Holy shit, Rigurd?!" Percy gaped at the astonishing growth the Goblin chief had undergone.
"Indeed, my lord!" the elder grinned even as he flexed. The man, or 'hobgoblin' according to Wise Girl, was clearly enjoying the new muscles that the name had given him. Beside Rigurd, a furry face with a large horn and a very recognizable star pattern was shoving their face in, too large to fit in the hut completely.
"Master! You're awake!" Romulus the wolf sounded so genuinely overjoyed to see him that it honestly threw Percy off guard, the wind from the wolf's rapidly wagging tail actually knocking down the walls of the hut "…Oops."
"We needed to fix up the village anyway." Percy sighed, more focused on assessing everything than being angry. Along with noting that none of the Goblins or Goblinas were anywhere close to as big as Rigurd, something to consider more later, he could also tell that all of the Dire Wolves had evolved despite him only naming Romulus.
"Wait, did someone else name the rest of your pack?" he looked to the still sheepish canine "How did the others evolve too?"
"Ah, that is something unique to our pack master!" Romulus perked up, clearly glad to have something new to distract from the destroyed hut "We are all connected so my name became their name in turn."
"A shared name huh?" Percy nodded, figuring it made some sense with the pack like structure. Although he wasn't sure if Romulus having a horn while the others didn't was due to him being the one actually given the name or if it was a matter of uniqueness all his own, much like Rigurd's sheer size and strength.
"Have you split everyone up into teams yet?" he looked over at Rigurd who shook his head sadly.
"No, my lord, we've been in the village since you collapsed. Along with the time spent undergoing our evolution we have been getting used to our new bodies." Rigurd explained, sounding guilty as if he'd failed.
"Yeah, that makes sense." Percy nodded, "At least everyone's healthy." Rigurd slumped in relief "Gather everyone together. Along with setting up the teams, I do have a rule I need everyone to follow." If he was going to be protecting and stuck 'ruling' he'd have to make sure they had some sense of order.
"A rule?" Rigurd looked confused and curious even as the villagers all gathered around.
"Yes, one rule." Percy nodded "More can be set up as the village develops but this is the primary rule which a lot more can be derived from. To be blunt, it's 'Do no harm, but take no shit'."
"Um…huh?" Rigur looked confused, "I…don't really get it, could you explain what you mean my lord?"
"Simple Rigur." Percy chuckled, realizing getting them used to sass might take a bit "I don't want you going out of your way to instigate fights, but if someone else starts one to be sure to end that fight." If the Hobgoblins and Wolves attacked humans unprovoked then more would follow and cause war. If they got high off their power and started trying to be the 'big men' of the forest, then he'd have to put it down himself. At the same time, he didn't want any notion of complete pacifism getting the people he was looking after hurt trying to follow. With the rule established, he began dividing up the teams although a new problem quickly became apparent.
"So, none of you really know how to make clothes or build houses?" Percy resisted sighing, knowing it would just make Rigur and Rigurd feel worse "What about the ones you had before?" they weren't the best but they hadn't been bad.
"Another Goblin who isn't around anymore built those." Rigurd explained "He passed away a few years ago. And we usually get what clothes we need through trade with the Dwarves from the Nation of Dwargon."
"Trade huh?" Percy glanced around at the Hobgoblins and Goblinas who were wearing far less than they should be "We definitely need more clothes for everyone." Coming to a decision, he nodded, "Rigurd, I want you to get at least one person who's gone there to trade before as well as five others and their wolf partners. I'm going to go with them to Dwargon to get the clothes we need and hopefully find some craftsmen willing to come back here."
"Yes sir!" Rigurd saluted before pausing "But…sir, there is one other thing before you go."
"Yes?" he tilted his head even as Rigur ran off to gather the group.
"We saw you absorb that wolf during the fight and turn into one, but you looked…different." Rigurd trailed off, unsure of what the skill was.
"I can absorb the skills from those I consume with one of my skills." Percy nodded "It's how I got the thread skills you saw, by absorbing a spider monster that had tried to eat me. Along with the skills, I can take the form of what I would look like if I was of that race."
"We thought it might be something like that." Rigurd nodded as he led Percy back to the medical hut where he'd healed the injured before. Inside there was now a single Goblin being held under guard. Not a Hobgoblin, like the ones watching him, but a regular goblin.
"What's going on here Rigurd?" Percy glanced at the chief.
"This man is a traitor." Rigurd's voice was cold, his clenched fist audibly cracking "When the wolves first came, he tried to offer up others as sacrifices to save his own life. My elder son, the first Rigur, died saving them."
"I wanted to live! Is that a crime now?!" the goblin, tied up in rope, thrashed, not denying the accusations of his crime.
"He came back when he heard the wolves weren't attacking and you were giving everyone names, hoping he would be forgiven." Rigurd glared at the man, showing that was a hope in vain, "He was to be executed regardless, but when we remembered your skill, we thought to offer to let you absorb him, and gain a goblin form as well. If you wish, my lord."
Percy went still as he considered the situation, really starting to realize just how similar, and how different, this world was from the double life he'd led before.